The Phone Call That Gave Him Away

Shannon Benson sat in a Minneapolis police interview room, having just asked for a lawyer. Then he asked for something else: his phone, so he could call his friend Rick to "clear this up." The detectives handed it over and let him dial. What Shannon didn't know—and what the episode's title telegraphs—is that the detectives would take the phone from him and talk to Rick themselves. Over the next several minutes, Rick would unwittingly give them everything they needed.

What the Detectives Already Knew

By the time Shannon called Rick, the detectives had already assembled a damning picture. A missing pregnant woman named Anissa had been found dead inside a burned trailer. The trailer belonged to Shannon. It had been pulled by Shannon's Chevrolet Tahoe, driven by his girlfriend Jade. Surveillance video showed the Tahoe and trailer at a Speedway gas station in northeast Minneapolis. Other video captured the trailer being towed into a small parking lot near 35th and Hennepin in South Minneapolis, where it got stuck, jackknifed, had its hitch broken off, and was set on fire—with Anissa's body still inside. Neighbors in the apartment building above the lot had spoken to Jade after the fire started; she had even smoked a cigarette with one of them before leaving.